Posts Tagged ‘Mariners’

Our recent release:

Veggie Options Score Runs at Major League Baseball Stadiums

Concessions and Fans Both Win

Berkeley, CA.-April 23, 2013 – On opening day of Major League Baseball (MLB), 26 of the 30 stadiums had a vegetarian hot dog on their menus. At Safeco Field in Seattle, walking concession vendors will be selling vegetarian franks to fans throughout the stands and a designated cart will be serving customized vegan chili cheese dogs in addition to veggie burgers.

MLB parks have a come a long way since 2000, when vegetarian hot dogs were nonexistent on their menus and vegetarian options were generally limited to peanuts or pretzels. Enter Veggie Happy, an advocacy group that spoke up for fans who were bringing their own vegetarian food or choosing to eat before or after the games due to the limited options. Veggie Happy started with one fan, actress Johanna McCloy, who decided to take action by contacting all MLB concession managers and “making the pitch” for veggie dogs and other vegetarian fare. She cited statistics about the rise in demand for vegetarian options and empowered other fans to chime in. Concessionaires took heed and slowly began to introduce veggie dogs with her assistance. Veggie Happy also created a free “Venue Vegetarian Guide” on their web site (www.VeggieHappy.com) listing the vegetarian options at all MLB stadiums along with other professional sports venues.

At first, veggie dogs remained unmentioned in ballpark menu listings and were limited to one stand, sometimes located at the far end of a stadium. Most fans didn’t know they were even offered, so Veggie Happy hosted game outings and outreached locally to ensure awareness. McCloy even fielded comments on a Denver sports radio interview that veggie dogs in baseball were “un-American.” By 2013, it’s become a new ball game. Baseball fans will find such vegan options as frankfurters, sausages, burgers, Sloppy Janes, Philly cheese steaks, chicken fajitas, bean burritos, gluten free snack chips and more.

Ballparks are adding vegetarian all stars to their menus and generating runs for concessions and fans alike.

McCloy believes that adding tasty vegan options with proven appeal to mainstream consumers is the key to success, so she only pitches items with a big yummy factor.To that end, stadiums have been switching from generic veggie dogs to vegan frankfurters that appeal to “flexitarian” tastes. Safeco Field saw a 700% increase in sales from 2011-2012 after making the switch to Field Roast brand frankfurters. San Francisco Giants’ AT&T Park and Cleveland Indians’ Progressive Field also saw their sales rise. Peggy Kalberer, Assistant Concessions Manager for the Cleveland Indians’ Progressive Field said, “With more and more people looking for healthier options, Veggie Happy makes it easy for fans to plan their visit to the ballpark (by offering the on-line guide). Our fans do not have to eat at home before coming to see a great game.”

David Lee, Field Roast president and founder said, “All baseball fans, whether we’re carnivores or vegans, Giants, Red Socks or Mariners fans, want to eat good All-American food at the ballpark, and that means frankfurters. We are proud to offer ballparks a real vegan frankfurter that is juicy, bold and traditionally seasoned to satisfy fans cravings.”

For more information about Veggie Happy and issues regarding vegetarian options in MLB (and other sports leagues), please visit: www.veggiehappy.com.

In 2000, Johanna attended her first Major League Baseball game and found no viable vegetarian menu options in the entire stadium. She realized that many fans were either bringing their own food or eating before or after the game, so she decided to speak up. She compiled statistics on the rise in demand for vegetarian options and presented her menu suggestions to the concession manager. In particular, she suggested the addition of a vegetarian hot dog.

She contacted every MLB park and offered her assistance as a liaison with popular manufacturers. She also reached out to baseball fans, consumer groups and supportive organizations, encouraging them to chime in. The Veggie Happy website (then called Soy Happy) was created as a resource, complete with an online Venue Vegetarian Guide listing every stadium’s menu and contact information.

Fans started to speak up, celebrities offered endorsements, media paid attention, and concession managers responded. When Veggie Happy started, none of the MLB parks offered veggie dogs. By opening day 2013, 26 of 30 MLB parks offered veggie dogs or frankfurters on their menus, many of them with our assistance. In 2003, Veggie Happy also acted as media and outreach coordinator for the Healthy School Lunch Resolution in California.

The winner will get to choose either two free tickets to one of our game outings (Seatttle Mariners on June 9 or San Francisco Giants on June 29) OR a free delivery of Field Roast goodies. In addition, the chosen frankfurter recipe will be offered from the Field Roast specialty cart at Safeco Field during our Seattle game outing. Good luck to all the finalists!

From David Lee:
“We had a voting session at Field Roast…..and think we came up with a nice collection of specialty franks. They are presented here in no particular order.”

2. Veggie Goodness Dog– A vegan bun topped with a vegan frankfurter, grilled vegetables and hummus!David Lee comments: ” Who can deny the goodness of fresh grilled vegetables, the lubricity of hummus and charred notes of a dog well done? We had equal votes for the Mediterranean Dog but felt that there should only be one “hummus” dog….and the Mediterranean has expensive ingredients and hard to get vegan feta cheese? A’donde?

3. My Oh My!– Tofutti cream cheese, jalapenos, and a good drizzle of Sriracha Sauce. All on a field roast frankfurter and bun.David Lee comments: “Seattle all the way….this seems extra spicy for me….but everyone voted for it, except me….so I must be wrong. I don’t know how to curb the spice of Sriracha Sauce atop of jalapenos but with a slather of vegan cream cheese.”

Submit your own specialty Field Roast frankfurter concept and be eligible to win two free tickets to a Veggie Happy group game outing of your choice OR a delivery of free Field Roast goodies! The winning specialty frankfurter will also be available from the Field Roast cart at Safeco Field during our Mariners game outing on June 9.

* May 25 note: The competition has now ended, but we always welcome more ideas if you want to share them. Our five finalists were announced today. The winner will be announced on June 1.

At Safeco Field in Seattle, Field Roast Chef David Lee created three concepts: The IchiBan, The Bombay and The Seattle Chili Cheez Dog. The specialty frankfurter recipe usually, but not always, consists of a main cooked melange (teriyaki onions, curried garbanzo beans and spicy chili respectively) with garnishes and sauces.

Easy rules to enter: You can submit your entry under our Facebook post or in the comments section below. Please submit the name for your specialty frankfurter along with a short description of your concept. Note that it should have no more than four toppings. Feel free to post a photo of your specialty frank if you’d like, too!

The top five finalists will be notified on Friday, May 25 and asked to submit specific recipes for the cooked and sauce elements. The winning specialty frankfurter will be selected by David Lee and announced on Friday, June 1.

Be creative and think outside the box! Help us bring the Frankfurter to a new place in the culinary lexicon! Good luck!

The Oakland Athletics and Seattle Mariners arrived at Tokyo’s Narita airport this morning. They will be playing each other Wednesday and Thursday (March 28 and 29) at the Tokyo Dome to start the regular baseball season.

The Tokyo Dome is home to Tokyo’s beloved baseball team, the Yomiuri Giants, and one of the leading stadiums in the world, with a seating capacity of 55,000 people. In addition to baseball, Tokyo Dome hosts other international sporting competitions (NFL, NBA and MLB included) as well as mega concerts and exhibitions.

Japan is a baseball crazy country and the fans can’t wait to see their native players playing on a home field again. There are several Japanese baseball players returning home this week to play on their American teams. The biggest Japanese baseball star is Ichiro Suzuki of the Seattle Mariners. Known simply as “Ichiro,” Suzuki has been Rookie of the Year and MVP in the American League and has repeatedly been voted an All Star by American fans. He is the also the first MLB player to enter the Japanese Baseball Hall of Fame (its museum is located inside the Tokyo Dome.)

So, what can a fan at The Tokyo Dome expect to find at the concession stands? Will there be mostly Japanese food? Will they offer hot dogs and french fries? What about vegetarian fare? The answer is D: all of the above.

We checked in with The Tokyo Dome yesterday and utilized the gracious assistance of Mia Tomikawa, editor at IRH Press in Tokyo, to call them directly with follow up questions.

Here is the listing of all the concession fare currently offered at The Tokyo Dome:

Mia asked if they served tofu/soy dogs or another vegetarian version of the hot dog. They do not. Perhaps one of our American manufacturers can introduce one there, if a Japanese product isn’t already available. Field Roast offers its fabulous vegetarian frankfurters at the Mariners’ own Safeco Field and may even offer a vegetarian “Japan Dog” there this season. Hmmm. Pause for thought.